Family-Centered/Developmentally Supportive Care
Family-centered care is the concept that the family of the newborn should feel as comfortable as possible in: coming to the neonatal intensive care unit, asking questions of the staff, and being directly involved in the care of their baby. To this end, our staff values compassionate and respectful behavior to patients and their families. Physicians, nurses, social workers and administrative staff in the neonatal intensive care unit work together to provide a positive family-centered care experience.
Our long-term mission is to build two new NICUs at Schneider Children's Hospital and Schneider Children's Hospital at North Shore. These new units will provide the physical backdrop for an ideal family-centered care unit. In the meantime, we have made many changes in our present building footprint to help families, such as: comfortable family waiting rooms, family computerized education centers, rooms for private discussions with the staff, art work that helps relieve stress and provides hope, and environments around the baby that are soothing from the standpoints of light and sound, and welcoming for the parents to stay.
